River dolphins and helicopters

10th November 2003

The Arctic Sunrise is now anchored at the mouth of the Guajará River. It is an utterly quiet place with lots of river dolphins watching us whilst they catch fish. In the early morning you can see their odd shaped fins rising out of the water, then their snouts appear for awhile before the sound of their exhalation as they disappear in to the murky waters of the Amazon. I have waited many years to see these wonderful creatures close up and they seem as curious about us as we are about them. We have several insects stowing away on the ship and today the largest most beautiful black and blue butterfly landed on the bridge window.

It has been hectic on board as we are the communications centre for all our teams working here and that keeps me as communications technician in a state of sleep deprivation. Yesterday was especially busy as we had two aircraft in the air and two rigid inflatable boats (RIBS) all out and about. Our own helicopter is working along the Amazon keeping a look out for suspicious activities and the helicopter of the environmental agency IBAMA paid us a short visit. Their helicopter is much larger than ours and they had an IBAMA agent hanging off the side of the chopper as it landed. He seemed a very brave fellow but it was a bit scary! I am doing very well at multitasking and talking on two radios and the telephone at the same time…. It is so important to know where everyone is and keep in regular contact as we are under threat from certain people who wish we were not here.

Early this morning the large RIB left the ship to meet up with the river boat working with the small local communities along the Guajará River. To have this ice breaking ship in the Amazon with all its equipment may seem a little strange but for the people here it means they know that we as Greenpeace, as individuals, our members and supporters care about their plight. That we will do our best to bring their suffering out in to the wide open world. To relay their message to you wherever you are. It is so isolated here and if you only have a small canoe and a big family all trying to survive in the face of guns and loggers it must seem impossible to stay positive. I'd like the buyers of the illegal timber that is stolen from here to come and witness for themselves what their greed is doing to the local population and the environment. When we sail past plumes of smoke rising from the jungle I feel like we are witnessing the funeral of another hectare of trees in a land that can not afford to lose any more to illegal logging. There are a one hundred and seventy Indian nationalities and one thousand species of birds that we know of living here. The illegal logging, the soya plantations, cattle ranching and road building are making them all slowly but steadily homeless. I don't want to show my future grandchildren pictures of how wonderful the Amazon was. I want them to be able to see it with their own eyes. Please support the people of Porto de Moz and sign the petition. Thank you.

Emily

Radio Operator